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The Sociopolitical Context of Education in Post-Civil Rights Birmingham* Tondra L. Loder-Jackson the University of Alabama at Bi

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The Sociopolitical Context of Education in Post-Civil Rights Birmingham* Tondra L. Loder-Jackson the University of Alabama at Bi Running head: SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION 1 The Sociopolitical Context of Education in Post-Civil Rights Birmingham* Tondra L. Loder-Jackson The University of Alabama at Birmingham *“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Peabody Journal of Education electronically on June 29, 2015, available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2015.1044288.” No part of this manuscript may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this manuscript may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise. Author Note: A portion of this research was funded by the Lyle M. Spencer Foundation (200500140) and a Comprehensive Minority Faculty Development Award from The UAB Office of Equity and Diversity. Some of the ideas in this article were presented at the 2014 annual convention of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in Memphis, TN. The views presented here are those of the author and not necessarily those held by the funding agencies. Correspondence should be sent to: Tondra L. Loder-Jackson, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Education, Department of Human Studies, EB 219, 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-1250. Email: [email protected]. Running head: SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION 2 Abstract Drawing on scholarship from the politics and history of education, narrative and archival data, and the author’s emic perspectives, this article examines social and political transformations in the Birmingham City Schools (BCS) and some of its surrounding metropolitan school districts during the pre- and post-classical phases of the American Civil Rights Movement. The BCS, in particular, has encountered a fate similar to urban districts across the U. S. South and nation, most notably, severe fiscal, social, and economic problems precipitated by historic racial inequities, the exodus of middle-class White and African American students and families to the surrounding suburbs, and increased enrollment of students who are socially and economically disenfranchised. Moreover, the district has been beset by inter- and intraracial school governance controversies and shrinking legal, political, and financial commitments from federal, state, and local governments. The question deliberated is whether or not post-civil rights Birmingham can reignite its renowned civic capacity, which is grounded in its historic role as a bastion of the civil rights movement, to address these pressing concerns. This question is considered in light of decidedly altered municipal and educational contexts that are more metropolitan, ethnically and linguistically diverse, and socioeconomically stratified. Running head: SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION 3 The Sociopolitical Context of Education in Post-Civil Rights Birmingham Observers acquainted with Birmingham, Alabama, typically have learned about the city through historical civil rights footage; most infamously, they see the images of former Public Safety Commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Connor’s incitement of vicious police dogs and powerful water hoses onto innocent, nonviolent protesters, many of whom were youth (Eskew, 1997; Garrow, 1989; McWhorter, 2001). Although this revealing yet narrow segment of Birmingham’s history receives repetitive coverage during the nation’s periodic reflections on its troubled racial past, very little is known about Birmingham’s educational history and its relationship to contemporary schooling (Loder-Jackson, 2011, 2012, in press). This is a curious oversight given that the historic struggles for civil and educational rights were so closely intertwined. The national fight for educational equity, which culminated legally in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court decision, set the stage for local civil rights leaders and citizens, most notably, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the families he enlisted as legal plaintiffs, to dismantle racial segregation in Birmingham’s public schools (Leech, September 17, 2010; Spencer, October 9, 2011; White & McManis, 2000). Yet, in the aftermath of the 50th anniversary of the watershed civil rights year in 2013, and the 60th commemoration of Brown in 2014, Birmingham’s contemporary educational context is more reflective of the Supreme Court’s Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” mandate than of Brown’s deferred promise to supplant it. In the sixty years since Brown, the Birmingham City Schools (BCS) have encountered the same fate as many urban schools across the United States: most notably, severe fiscal, social, and economic problems precipitated by historic racial inequities; the exodus of middle-class White and African American students and families to the surrounding suburbs; increased Running head: SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION 4 enrollment of students who are socially and economically disenfranchised; inter- and intraracial school governance controversies; and shrinking legal, political, and financial commitments from federal, state, and local governments (Loder, 2006). These problems make good fodder for negatively slanted press coverage of the so-called urban school crisis (Miron, 1996). Similar to some large urban school districts in the Northeast and Midwest, the BCS recently underwent a state takeover followed by a looming threat of losing its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) if fiscal and school board governance issues were not resolved (Leech, June 27, 2012, November 1, 2012). The district also recently completed a search for a new superintendent after its long-embattled superintendent resigned (Underwood, October 7, 2014, May 12, 2015). Birmingham school reformers are attempting to rekindle the grassroots momentum of yesteryear to address these contemporary problems. But this has proved difficult in decidedly altered municipal and educational contexts that are more metropolitan, ethnically and linguistically diverse, and economically polarizing than ever before. A brief review of Birmingham’s civil rights and educational history, and how this history is embedded within the sociopolitical context of urban schools, offers a useful framework for understanding this dilemma.1 The subsequent analysis of local and national urban school contexts is considered in light of historical perspectives, changing racial and socioeconomic urban municipal demographics, and the shifting racial dynamics of urban school governance. Furthermore, this analysis addresses the context of the rising power of federal, state, and municipal executives in U. S. education evidenced most prominently in recent state and mayoral takeovers of large urban school districts. A Brief History of Birmingham’s Civil Rights and Public Education Struggles Running head: SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION 5 Birmingham’s history as one of the pivotal centers of the civil rights movement provides a unique context for examining contemporary civic capacity in urban schools. Given the recalcitrant and violent resistance of many White residents and municipal and school leaders prior to Brown, this Supreme Court decision quite plausibly would not have been enacted had it not been for the bravery and tenacity of a contingent of Birmingham’s Black2 citizenry. Court cases initiated by Shuttlesworth and his own young children, along with other families, were critical to chiseling the wall of segregation separating Black and White children (Eskew, 1997; Dolgin, Fryday & Helfand, 2011; Huntley & McKerley, 2009; McWhorter, 2001; Spencer, October 9, 2011; White & McManis, 2000). Shuttlesworth’s organization, the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), comprised largely of pastors, church members, and local citizens, organized to fill the void of the state-banned NAACP. ACMHR was central to mobilizing grassroots community support for desegregation (Eskew, 1997; Spencer, October 9, 2011; White & McManis, 2000), as it petitioned the Birmingham Board of Education (BBOE) on August 21, 1957, to admit Black students to all-White schools. But the BBOE, backed by state sanctions, stonewalled Shuttlesworth and his supporters’ efforts every step of the way. The Alabama state school superintendent reminded Shuttlesworth and his comrades that “the people of Alabama voted to change the Constitution of this State, and thereby abolished the right of education or training of any individual at public expense” (Shuttlesworth et al. v. BBOE). The superintendent went on to warn them: “I think you will destroy what you already have if you refuse to cooperate with the decision of the local school board of education to place your child in the school they think will be best for your child” (Shuttlesworth et al. v. BBOE). On September 17, 1957 Birmingham’s school and municipal officials contended with Brown head on when Shuttlesworth and his family joined ranks with other Black families in an Running head: SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION 6 attempt to integrate the predominantly White Phillips High School. However, Shuttlesworth and his family paid a high price for their activism. They were attacked by an angry White mob, which left Shuttlesworth badly beaten, his wife stabbed, and his daughter with a broken ankle (Spencer, October 9, 2011). Yet this setback did not stop Shuttlesworth
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